Without free will, what do our choices mean?

In Free Will, Sam Harris dismantles the idea, but argues that our decisions still matter – a refreshing antidote to the nihilism the debate tends to produce

By Graham Lawton

FOR such a big topic this is an awfully short book. But don’t blame neuroscientist Sam Harris for being brief. He had no choice.

In a brisk 66 pages Harris explains why we don’t have free will, points out why that doesn’t matter as much as it might appear to – and then simply stops in order to hammer home his point.

Free will touches everything we value – law, politics, relationships, morality and more. And yet it is an illusion. We either live in a deterministic universe where the future is set, or an indeterminate one where …